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Hathaway-Sycamores' Holiday Card Program Helps Transition Age Youth Find a Place to Call Home

From STAFF REPORTS

Published : Thursday, December 6, 2018 | 1:08 PM

“Home for the holidays.” This simple phrase evokes feelings of belonging, security, joy and love. To many young people, it’s an idea they can only dream of — because they have no place to call home. There are more than 3,540 transition age youth (TAY), ages 18-24, in Los Angeles County who call the streets their home all year long.

This holiday season, Hathaway-Sycamores has launched its holiday card program as a way the public can help these youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Our holiday cards are designed by children receiving our services, and are available to order in a variety of ways.

Supporters can send a holiday greeting with meaning by ordering cards for their whole mailing list. This can range from purchasing blank cards to letting Hathaway-Sycamores do the whole process for you: printing a personalized message inside each card; printing return addresses on each envelope; hand-addressing or labelling each envelope; placing a first-class holiday stamp on each envelope, sealing and mailing them.

Supporters can also send individual cards as a holiday gift to someone special—a friend or loved one, client or colleague. Hathaway-Sycamores will send a card of acknowledgement to this special person. $10 per card buys two days of groceries for a transition age youth, and $20 per card buys a two-week bus pass for a youth to travel to work and/or school.

Funds raised from the program will support our continued efforts to give youth on the streets a place to call home through our TAY Transitional Housing Program. Since 2001, Hathaway-Sycamores has provided housing, vocational training and placement, and the life skills necessary to be self-sufficient and productive. Our program has a positive effect on the mental health of the transition age youth we serve, boosting their self-confidence and self-esteem, and preparing them for positive, meaningful independent living.

About Hathaway-Sycamores: Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services is a highly respected mental health and welfare agency with 10 locations throughout Southern California. For over 116 years, Hathaway-Sycamores has been investing in people. We provide innovative and effective programs and services through a network of locations stretching across Los Angeles and the San Fernando, San Gabriel, and Antelope Valleys for children, youth, young adults, and families facing serious life challenges. Our highly effective behavioral health services impact more than 15,000 lives annually. Services include: residential treatment; transitional shelter care; foster care and adoption; transitional living assistance for emancipated foster youth; outpatient and school-based mental health services; wraparound/in-home services; psychiatric services; psychological testing; educational support services; and after-school tutoring/enrichment. Hathaway-Sycamores is licensed by the Community Care Licensing Division of the California Department of Social Services, certified by the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, LAHSA funded and accredited through The Joint Commission. To learn more, visit hathaway-sycamores.org.